


Unbelievable

by katmarajade



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies), Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: First Meetings, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-16
Updated: 2014-12-16
Packaged: 2018-03-01 19:26:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2784902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katmarajade/pseuds/katmarajade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It all starts when Kirk nearly runs Sulu over with his motorcycle.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unbelievable

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Thistlerose](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thistlerose/gifts).



> Written for thistlerose as part of my annual holiday gift fic series.

The first time Sulu sees Kirk is when Kirk nearly runs him over in a grocery store parking lot in the itty bitty, blink-and-you'd-miss it, tiny town of Riverside, Iowa. Sulu is a first year cadet who had signed up for a trip to see part of the starship production process. He had not realized just _how_ small town they meant when they said small town. Having grown up in the heart of San Francisco where anything you could imagine was right at your fingertips, Iowa is a major culture shock.

Sulu has been in Riverside for three days and has not been able to find a single thing to eat that isn't red meat, fried, or covered in cheese (often all three at the same time), and his stomach is killing him. Having grown up vegetarian in a city where there are literally hundreds of food options available within ten minutes of his house, the lack of culinary diversity is jarring. When he'd asked about vegetables, the surprised cook at the Starfleet barracks offered him a small bowl of limp iceberg lettuce with suspiciously pink tomatoes and (of course) a generous sprinkling of cheddar cheese. That was when he'd decided to track down a supermarket and purchase something—anything—that fit into the fruits and vegetables category.

His quest has been only marginally successful. The selection is appalling, and he is stunned when a worker informs him that this is the largest grocery store in the area. He settles for celery, carrots, and a couple of oranges, and vows that from now on he will better appreciate the wide canvas of produce that is available year round in the Bay Area.

As he begins his walk back towards the barracks, which are located only a few kilometers away, he again shakes his head at the lack of proper pedestrian walkways. That is the moment when a motorcycle flies by, nearly running Sulu over. The driver pauses, runs a hand through his windblown hair, and grins, all perfect white teeth and electric blue eyes.

"Sorry, man! Need a lift?"

Sulu musters all of his Starfleet-instilled composure and controls his urge to offer a resounding, disdainful _hell, no!_ to the horrifying offer.

"No. Thank you," he manages tightly, his clenched hands bruising his produce.

"Suit yourself. Have a good one!" The young man guns his motorcycle and speeds off, leaving Sulu in a wake of fumes.

"Unbelievable," Sulu mutters.

He will have that same thought when the man on the motorcycle—Kirk—appears in his Advanced Astrophysics course the next year.

And again when Kirk manages to breeze through the required courses, even surpassing bright students like Sulu who have more been there for more than a year longer than Kirk has.

And when Kirk manages to beat the Kobayashi Maru and piss off the Vulcan instructor who'd called Sulu's attempt _adequate_ a few months earlier.

And when Kirk jumps off a drill without hesitation in an attempt to save Sulu, whom he has, to his knowledge at least, just met and actually succeeds.

And thirty years later, Sulu will have Kirk's back, covering for him to Starfleet when Kirk and McCoy get themselves arrested and sent to a Klingon prison camp. And even after all those years, all the adventures and risks and successes and near-misses and losses and fights and fun and craziness … he will still shake his head, now with more amused affection than anything else, at the small town motorcycle boy turned intergalactic hero and think, _unbelievable_.  



End file.
